Johnny Depp’s Scrooge Looks Genuinely Terrifying in the New ‘Ebenezer’ Trailer

Johnny Depp portrays the iconic Ebenezer Scrooge on a far-from-merry Christmas Eve in the new teaser trailer for Ebenezer, Ti West’s take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Paramount Pictures debuted the clip earlier this week ahead of the film’s limited theatrical run on November 13.

The trailer focuses on the novella’s ghost story at its heart as the frugal misanthrope Depp walks through snowy Victorian London in his black top hat, pushes away charity solicitors, and returns to a darkened home to receive a pale-faced visitor delivering a now-familiar warning: you will be visited by three ghosts. Red cards flash, daring any viewer who thinks they know the story.

Very little of the plot has been revealed. Paramount’s official description: This November, Johnny Depp is Ebenezer Scrooge. The name you know, the story you don’t. From Ti West, Ebenezer also stars Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley, Arthur Conti, Ellie Bamber, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Charlie Murphy, with Tramell Tillman and Ian McKellen.

For Ti West, whose credits include X, Pearl, and MaXXXine, the connection to the story goes beyond the horror films he made. The director recently told Entertainment Weekly that he rereads the novel every year and finds it quite eerie.

“I liked it more as a ghost story than as a Christmas story,” West adds.

West insists the film is loyal to Dickens and that he and screenwriter Nathaniel Halpern added moral ambiguities in which the main character makes valid arguments despite knowing the direction of his journey. West also praises Depp’s Dickensian language and his ability to add humor and charm to a character who isn’t particularly likable.

The latest clip comes after the July release of the previous trailer, following Depp’s introduction of the film in Hall H at the fan convention in San Diego, where he portrayed Scrooge. In the previous trailer, the film ends with Scrooge saying, It’s good to be back.

Grint, who gained fame for the Harry Potter films, portrays Scrooge’s exhausted secretary Bob Cratchit, one of the emotional cores of the film, according to West. The 87-year-old McKellen plays Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s dead business partner. It’s his first film role in this story, and he said the work on Ebenezer took him six days.

Andrea Riseborough, the Oscar nominee for her role in To Leslie, plays the Ghost of Christmas Past. At the same time, Tillman from the Apple TV series Severance appears as the Ghost of Christmas Present, a spirit West describes as having little patience with Scrooge. Ridley plays Emily Cratchit, while Claflin is Fred, Scrooge’s nephew.

Arthur Conti, known for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, appears as a young Ebenezer. Bamber, Lloyd-Hughes, and Murphy form the rest of the cast.

Halpern, creator of the Amazon series Tales from the Loop and writer of the FX series Legion, wrote the script. The film was produced by Emma Watts, who previously headed Paramount’s film department.

West also served as executive producer, along with Adam Bohling, David Reid, Stephen Deuters, Jason Forman, Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, and Andrew Lary. Paramount presents the film in partnership with Domain Entertainment, which Wattsco and IN.2 Films produced.

First announced in October 2025 as Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, filming took place in Dublin and London in January.

It is Depp’s return to a major Hollywood studio production in eight years and his first film role after the 2022 defamation trial with Amber Heard. Now 63, the three-time Best Actor Oscar nominee appears in the French historical drama Jeanne du Barry. In March 2027, he will next appear on screen in the Lionsgate thriller Day Drinker alongside Penélope Cruz and Madelyn Cline.

Ebenezer continues a long line of screen adaptations of Dickens’ novel, from Alastair Sim’s Scrooge in 1951 to The Muppet Christmas Carol and Robert Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol from 2009 with Jim Carrey.

Ebenezer is scheduled to be released in theaters on November 13th.